Gene Simmons Defends His DWTS Comments After Backlash

Gene Simmons defended himself against backlash he received for his controversial comments after recently guest judging on Dancing With the Stars.

“I stand by every word I said,” Simmons, 75, told the Daily Mail on Thursday, October 10. “I had a great time. The contestants were great. The show was great. Watch the show.”

While speaking with the outlet, Simmons encouraged people to watch the ABC dancing competition series.

“Everybody’s got something to say,” he continued. “Watch the show, it was a lot of fun. Everybody had a great time.”

Simmons turned heads during the Tuesday, October 8, episode for some of his reactions to the pairings’ performances. After Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong performed a jive to “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister, Simmons said the routine “fogged up” his glasses.

While reacting to Simmons’ remark, Kinney exclusively told Us Weekly after the show that her only response was “LOL.” She added, “Brandon has more feelings than I [do].”

Armstrong explained his thought process, adding, “I said, ‘Hold up now.’ I have two little sisters. I heard it. I said, ‘Wait, wait, wait.’”

Simmons also raised eyebrows — and surprised performers themselves — when he handed out some harsh scores. After telling Jenn Tran, “Besides being beautiful, you deliver,” Simmons gave the former Bachelorette and partner Sasha Farber a low score. Simmons said, “Don’t hate me” before holding up a seven while the other judges gave the twosome eights.

The KISS vocalist and bass player also gave Bravo personality Phaedra Parks a five, while the other judges gave her and partner Val Chmerkovskiy sevens. The audience began booing as Parks and Chmerkovskiy appeared shocked by the score. Kinney covered her mouth before mouthing, “What’s going on?”

Cohost Julianne Hough called the evening “wild,” before adding, “Alright, well, we can’t say it enough times, you have to vote to save your favorites from tonight’s double elimination.” (Eric Roberts and his partner, Britt Stewart, as well as Reginald VelJohnson and his partner, Emma Slater, were ultimately sent home on Tuesday.)

After the Tuesday show, Parks quipped about Simmons, “I figured he didn’t like short Black women.” Chmerkovskiy, for his part, jokingly added to Page Six on Tuesday, “He likes tall Black women.”

Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Episodes are available to stream on Hulu and Disney+ the next day.